Hormones
by Clone Number 5
Summary: Ah, teen love. [Zutara drabbles.]
1. Hormones

**Hormones**

"Idiot!"

"Jerk!"

"_Wench!" _

"_**Bastard!" **_

Sokka sighed, flipped the frying fish in its searing pan, and deftly ducked the ball of fire that went hurtling past his head.

He muttered to Toph, "They're flirting again."


	2. Cold

**_Author's Note: _**I really need to get a Live Journal. Okay, so here's the deal: I was, erm, _unofficially_ writing a response to the 50 Sentence Challenge (oh, don't give me that look, I wasn't going to post it) and this plot bunny came into my mind. I was too lazy to write a proper piece, so I just typed up (roughly) 85 words worth. Anyway, it didn't fit anywhere else but here.

**#07: Cold**

Zuko is an idiot. Who tells someone they love them in the middle of an argument? An idiot. I am in love with an idiot. 

I probably shouldn't have pushed him in the river, though. That was a little hasty.

I hope he's okay. He looks like he missed the rocks but I can't really tell from up here…

-A-T-L-A-

The river.

I tell the woman I love her and she pushes me into the fucking river.

I am in love with a maniac.

Typical.


	3. Beauty's Doom

**Beauty's Doom**

"Do you want to find her? Your mother, I mean," she asks one night, when the moon is high and Sokka has slipped away.

His first thought is a single scream from the ten year old within: _Yes!_

The second is not a word, but a vision - a twelve year old boy with a thick, white bandage over his eye. It creeps in ever so slowly, the details sinking into the the blurred edges of the memory. It drowns the turtleducks that still tread across the back of his mind in a sea of flames.

He turns away, so that she can't see the scar as he murmurs, "No."


	4. Nothing Too Small

**Nothing Too Small**

"How do you know him?"

Aang avoids her gaze as he says, quietly, "He helped me once."

At that, the Airbender trudges away from the bulletin board stationed just outside the city to join Sokka, who is peering at a map. Katara lingers. Her eyes slide over the face painted on the parchment underneath the heading, The Blue Spirit. The countenance of the masked man stares back up at her through the twisted pattern of blue and white.

She tears her eyes from the haunting face to the words that accompany the criminal. The characters scribed next to the portrait are not very flattering, to say the least. The fugitive they describe is heartless, cruel – a doppleganger of Aang's one-night ally. He is a thief, and an enemy of the Fire Lord.

Suddenly, the weight of the stolen Waterbending Scroll in Katara's pack grows increasingly heavy.

Perhaps that is why, after quickly checking over her shoulder, she tore the Wanted poster from the board.

And kept it.


	5. Share

**Share**

Zuko didn't have much when he left home at 14. 

At 17, now traveling with the Avatar and his uncle, he carries even less. Everything he owns, apart from his twin blades, can be fitted into his pack, usually with room to spare. His possessions are very few, and even fewer are worth anything to anyone other than himself.

According to Katara, however, Zuko is delusional. She tells him so as she pulls his spare tunic around her significantly smaller body and, laughingly, steals a kiss from bewildered Firebender.

Strange, how at a time when he'd never had so little, he's never had so much to share.


	6. Kiss

**Kiss**

"Thanks," Zuko mutters, and hands the water canteen back to Katara. She smiles back.

When the Firebender walks ahead, Katara glances at the canteen's mouthpiece. Silently, her eyes find the mark his lips left on the rim. She lifts the canteen to her mouth, and touches her lips to the same place he did as she takes a sip.

It's certainly not as good as the real thing (not that she would know), but she doubts that she'll ever get closer than this.


	7. they did not speak

**Note: **_I haven't had the time revise this at all, so I apologize for the unfinished feel of it._

**they did not speak**

he asked her once what she wanted. the question had fallen from his lips like a tiny prayer, restrained slightly at the end as though there was a selfish appendidge that he wanted to add. but he didn't. the dying flames of the fire had cast shadows and light across the contours of his face.

she remembers that they had been the only ones left awake.

i don't know, she'd said.

there was a tightness to his smile as he told her, that's dangerous.

she changed the subject, because the right words were stuck like dry leaves in her throat. the rest of the night, they spoke of nothing and did not risk brushing against each other as they retreated to the safety of their sleeping bags.

___-xx-_

tomorrow the world might end.

but for now, they sit alone in the field and look up at the stars. wind whispers in the tall grass, and they do not speak.

he turns his head to look at her, moonlight twinkling in his golden eyes.

and she thinks that maybe she should tell him that she's in love with him. that this, more than anything, is what she wants.

but she doesn't. because they have too little time to waste with things like whispers in the dark and redundant declarations. they've already invested too much into words without actions.

so instead she slides into his arms, and kisses him.

and the rest of the night, they do not speak.


	8. That I May Die

**That I May Die**

To her credit, she does not cry or whimper pathetically. Her head rests heavily on his shoulder, her body still. The only movement is the mantra that she exhales.

_"Don't die." _

His ribs start to crumble into his heart, and he fights the urge to pull her closer to him. The curve of her breasts presses ever so slightly against his chest. On a little path of skin just below his jaw, he can feel the sure rhythm of her breath. 

It is going to be so hard to leave her behind.

"Zuko..." she starts, and he knows what she wants him to promise.

Because he can give her nothing else, he says, "I love you."

So quietly that he almost does not catch it, Katara begins to cry.


	9. Like Clockwork

**Note: **_Stupid _Sleepless in Seattle.

_Anyway, this story may be put into a hiatus for a few weeks. I've been too busy to devote any time to it. Hopefully my schedule will clear up, but for now I think I need a break. _**  
**

**Like Clockwork**

There are days when their aim was off.

Tempers crossed at odd angles, elbows came to a violent aquaintence with hip bones, and kisses landed on noses. She remembers, with a hint of a blush, standing up a little too fast to kiss him and knocking her forehead with his. Or when he accidentally pushed her a little too violently against a tree trunk, nearly breaking her neck.

She has a feeling that it will be a very long time before everything works like clockwork.

Provided that they don't maim each other in the process, of course.

It's all right, of course. No matter how badly they seem to tilt off balance, her hand always managed to find his to provide the assurance that all injuries, no matter how seering, are forgiven.


	10. The Blue Spirit's Revenge

**Note: **Damn it. Every time I think I'm out, Zutara pulls me back in. Damn you, Zutara! Damn you and your stange, unhealthy appeal! It's crap like this that takes away from my Longshot/Smellerbee fantasies.

Anyway. A fresh batch of Zutara, because I am pathetic.

**The Blue Spirit's Revenge**

_The Blue Spirit_

Katara studies the care-worn Wanted poster with a disappointed frown. Her fingers lightly trace the pattern of the mask, the swirling colors of the frothing ocean, and tries to find the man in the mysterious lines of a watercolor villian. Somewhere in there, Zuko hides behind the face of a monster.

_"Try to understand."_

The words might have been intended as fiction, but Katara takes them to heart. Her brow furrows.

_Where are you? _she wonders, staring imploringly into the dark chasm of the Blue Spirit's eyes. The cold lines offer no answer.

_"Try to understand,"_ he'd said. And she_ is_ trying. Maybe a little bit more than she should.


	11. Chapter 11

he wants to ask her why she's here, but something inside him is scared that if he does she will realize that she doesn't have a good reason.

at brink of the eve of a war, it seems like too much to risk another casualty.

_-x-_

she watches him out of the corner of her eyes, waiting for him to ask so that she can tell him why she's here, and why she's not going anywhere.  



	12. Rewards of Parenting

**Rewards of Parenting**

Katara expected a lot of things out of motherhood. Messes, responsibility, late nights spent consoling bad dreams - these things she prepared herself for.

Unfortunately, she hadn't prepared herself for opening the door to her son's room to find a fort of blankets and pillows canopied over the furniture, with her husband's guilty face peering out at her.

"Mom! Mom! Dad helped me build a fort and - Mom? What's so funny?"


	13. Odds Are In Your Favor

**Odds Are In Your Favor  
**

"Leave me alone, wench!"

"UGH! My name is _Katara_, you sea slug!"

"Clearly you are under the false impression that this is my caring face."

"Clearly I made the mistake of assuming that you cared about anyone but yourself, you selfish bast-!"

"You don't know anything about me, peasant!"

"I know that you'd be a much better lightening bender if you didn't waste so much time acting so misunderstood!"

And with that, fire and ice began to fly. Toph and Sokka paused from their dinner to watch in amused disinterest.

**THUNK!**

A dagger of ice hit the tree trunk that Toph was sitting against, just a few inches above her head. The earthbender turned to Sokka.

"Three nuts on Katara," she said.

"You're on."


	14. A Simple Request

**Note: **_This is a scrap from a story ( GASP! A story! - yeah, I know. It was a short-lived ambition.) that I couldn't get into. Basics: Set three-ish years after the war. Katara is engaged to Haru, the Avatar has disappeared, and Azula is organizing a hostile take over of the Fire Nation. So Zuko enlists Katara's help to take his sister down. The day before her wedding. Yeah, I didn't dig it either.  
_

**  
**

"Come with me."

"I - _what?_"

"I need you to help me find the Avatar."

"Zuko, I can't just leave. I'm needed here and...and I'm getting married!"

"To_ who?_"

"To...a boy..."

"...Are you just making someone up?"

"No! He's the one over in the quarry with the..." _A blush._ "...the hair."

_A pause, and a glance over the shoulder._

"The one bending a boulder?"

"Yes."

"And wearing a headband?"

"His name is Haru."

"Oh. I thought that was a girl."


	15. Score One For Unrequited Love

**Note:** _Guess who the title is about._

"...So...wanna go make out?"

_**SLAP!**_

"What the - damn it, Jet, you said that would work!"

**  
**


	16. Don't Know Much About Estrogen

Zuko didn't know a lot about girls, and he was okay with that. The only women he'd ever been exposed to for a prolonged amount of time were his mother, who didn't count, and his sister, who was a maniac.

Yet in spite of his lack of experience, Zuko didn't think that it was normal for girls to freeze your feet to where you stood. Or to be smiling like that. Or to get this close...

Wait a second. What - ?

...

_Oh._


	17. Girl Talk: Awakenings

**Note: **_Hey. I wrote stuff. _**  
**

**Girl Talk: Awakenings**

"Maybe he doesn't want to fight you." 

"But _why?_ He'll fight you and Aang and...Spirits, he'll even fight Sokka."

"Well, duh. He doesn't have a crush on _Sokka._"

"...What?"


	18. Maturity

**Maturity**

As usual, their spar comes to a standstill. The surrounding landscape is in ruins - the trees are marred with sooty streaks, and the ground is pierced with icy daggers - and the two benders are panting as they sit side-by-side on the dirt.

And, of course, arguing.

"You cheated," Katara accused.

"Prove it," Zuko countered, exhausted but never too weary to argue.

Katara gave a self-dignified snort. "Jerk."

"Wench."

"Cheater."

Zuko stuck his tongue out at her.

They solved this disagreement like mature, responsible adults and spent the rest of the day making stupid faces at each other when the others weren't looking.


	19. Insanity

**Insanity**

"Shhh!"

"Feet! _Feet!_"

"Oh, sorry."

Katara exhaled in relief as Zuko's cold toes burrowed in the covers away from hers.

"It's all right," she smiled, snuggling closer and smothering a snicker at the blush that bloomed across Zuko's face. His body was pressed close to hers inside the small sleeping bag, so that Katara had to lay half on top of the prince in order for them both to fit. Not that she was complaining, especially considering how long it had taken for Zuko to become open to any phsyical intimacy whatsoever.

"You're going to get us caught," Zuko told her dryly as he fought a yawn. Katara kissed his nose, and laughed when he wrinkled it.

"You're insane."

"Thanks."


	20. Telling Sokka

**Telling Sokka**

"I'll cook dinner for a whole week."

"...Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Okay, fine. I'll do the laundry."

"Wow. For how long?"

"A week."

"One month."

"Two weeks."

"Plus two nights of dishes."

"Deal."


	21. Expecting

**Expecting**

Zuko paled. "You're sure?"

From where she lay on the bed, skin a similar pallor, Katara nodded miserably.

"So we're going to be..."

"Parents," Katara finished, and thought she might be sick again.

Zuko seemed as nauseated as she felt.

"Parents," he repeated as though the term was equal to the terror of an incurable disease, and flopped down next to Katara.

For a long moment, they stewed in their mutual dread.

"I'll do the dishes for two weeks if you tell Sokka."


	22. slow burn

**Note:** _**Spoilers** for the finale(AKA, The One Where Everyone Fucks Up And Goes Batshit Crazy And Toph Didn't Die Thank God So Who The Fuck Cares About Pansy Ass Zuko Anyway). Which was awesome. Bring on the angst! _

**slow burn  
**

"_I'm sorry. But that's something we have in common." _

"_You don't know what you're talking about." _

"_It's okay." _

"_I did."_

"_I'm sorry." _

"_I'm sorry." _

"_I'm sorry…" _

Katara wakes with a jerk, her loose hair sticking to the back of her neck and her torn dress plastered to her skin. She places a hand to the stitch in her chest, trying to pacify the erratic rhythm of her breath. There's a light space there, just above her breast, where to the weight of the Oasis water used to press. She manages to pretend it's insignificant long enough for her breathing to slow.

Quietly, she tells herself she doesn't regret it. And it isn't a lie.

_(They aren't – weren't friends. They were never friends.)_

Still, her fingers curl into a fist on the place where her heart pounds against her ribs – it seems strangely louder – as she drifts off once more to dreams that are not filled with low cave lights, empty vials, or a scarred, motherless boy that is not her friend.

_(But something about him slows her down – the betrayal, the gentle apology, the scar tissue against her skin. Makes her linger on these things that should not - do not matter. )_


	23. slow burn: ii

**Note: Spoilers** for the finale. **  
**

**slow burn  
part ii**

"My nephew is…lost," Iroh tells his young companions, grief and resignation in his old voice. Shadows seep into the lines, some newer than others, that are etched onto his face.

Sokka's eyes narrow on the campfire. "He can stay that way," the warrior mutters.

Katara, whose tea has turned suddenly cold, says nothing.


	24. slow burn: iii girl talk

**Note: Spoilers** for the finale. No, I don't know how long this weird story arch is going to be commandeering my brain. **  
**

**slow burn  
part iii (girl talk)**

"So…what _were_ you and Zuko doing in that cave?"

"Nothing."

"...Liar."

"I...just hand me the salve. I need to change these bandages."


	25. Daddy Said

**Daddy Said**

_"But Daddy said I could!"_

_"Daddy says girls are yucky."_

_"Daddy told me that you're really grumpy."_

_"Daddy says I can play with the swords as long as I let him work!"_

_"But…but Daddy says it all the time!"_

-x-

"Well Daddy says…"

Enough, Katara decided as she glared down at her son, was enough.

-x- 

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"Mommy says you're in trouble."


	26. stop walking like a drunk

**Note:** _Scraps from a story that I've been working on for the past few months. I highly doubt that it will ever be posted, because I'm only four chapters in and it's more than 11,000 words long. Thought I'd share, though._

"Zuko, stop sleeping with Fire Nation spies."

--

It figured that the first time a girl ever tried to molest him, she would be unconscious.

--

"You're not that ugly, you know."

"Thanks, you really know how to compliment a guy."

--

"Who are your companions?" Song asked amiably, once she'd finally disentangled herself from Zuko. Or Li, as she had referred to him.

"This is Yon," Zuko said easily, gesturing to Toph. When he glanced at Katara, however, he hesitated. "And, er...Jin."

From beneath her hat Katara quirked an eyebrow at the firebender.

--

"Excuse me, but we're trying to plan the overthrow of an evil dictator and you're in my seat."

--

"Stop walking like a drunk."

Katara crossed her arms petulantly. "I am a drunk," she slurred snidely, glaring at her shoes.

Huh, that was strange. The earth wasn't supposed to tilt like that…

--

Partly because he was right, which she hated, and partly because he'd somehow managed to insult her morality and compliment her at the same time, which she hated even more, Katara decided that she wasn't speaking to him.

--

"Zuko's most committed relationship in the past three years has been with a lemur."

--

Katara smiled winningly at the leering man. _I'm going to destroy you._

--

"Don't try and turn the situation around."

"As if that's possible with you on top of me."

--

"Sokka wants to wait," Toph grumbled.

"For what?"

"For … _it._"

"Oh," Katara blinked. "Wait…_Sokka_ wants to _wait_?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you're sure that this is my brother we're talking about?"


	27. Destiny

**Destiny (Has A Really Sick Sense Of Humor)**

During the war, Katara had always given the impression of being a strong, independent person with her own sense of self. Those qualities had been what had attracted Zuko to her in the first place. So when Katara approached him about visiting some aunt of hers on nothing more than what seemed like a whim, Zuko had more or less conceded without fuss. He was sure that he'd heard the name before, though.

Unfortunately, he realized just moment before Aunt Wu introduced herself, he was right. The aging fortuneteller regarded him seriously, paying close attention to the scar on his face and scrutinizing his "soul" with an expression she probably thought resembled divine knowledge. Behind her, Katara beamed in anticipation.

"You," Aunt Wu said solemnly to Zuko, "have a very tragic past."

This had to be a joke.

"What gave it away?" Zuko droned.

Aunt Wu turned to Katara and asked, somewhat incredulously. "This is your husband?"

Zuko frowned. He had the vague impression that he should have been offended by that.

"We're engaged," Katara corrected, casting a dangerous glare at her fiance, who was contemplating whether or not frying this fortuneteller's ass would seem too conspicuous.

"I see," the old woman said, and was that _relief _in her voice? Aunt Wu put an arm around the waterbender and led her into a back room. Zuko trailed after them, a wave of dread washing over him and wondering if how much trouble he would be in if he crawled out a window.


End file.
